Zurich, January 22:

“There are just 14 of us left, but we are more and more powerful,” quipped Pierre Darier, one of the discreet and elegant Swiss private bankers who offer tailor-made financial services for a select group of wealthy customers.

Despite his old-world manner, Darier, chairman of the Swiss Private Ban-kers’ Association and one of two senior partners at Lombard Odier Darier Hentsch (LODH), holds his head high alongside Europe’s modern banking giants. St-aff at his Geneva-based gro-up — the product of the merger of two family-run institutions with a lineage stretching back seven generations — offer a full range of cutting-edge investment services in 15 countries. Th-e two private banking hea-vyweights in Switzerland, LODH and Pictet, manage some $78 billion deposits.

Would-be clients need more than $400,000, to find a place in the safe of a private bank in Switzerland. But there is a crucial difference with the mainstream banking groups that are also trying to attract wealthy individuals.

In Switzerland, ‘private bankers’ are personally responsible for their bank’s liabilities. Their own personal wealth is on the line. That is just one key element that explains the faith that Darier and his colleagues have in the durable lure of banking’s equivalent of the specialist boutique. “A bank like mine has been around for 200 years, that inspires confidence,” Guillaume Bordier, of Bordier and Company, explained during a seminar organised by the Swiss Private Bankers Association in Zurich. Private bankers quietly stand out from the crowd even in the Swiss banking world. Many of their banks were establi-shed in the 18th or 19th ce-nturies as partnerships, wi-th know-how often handed down from father to son.

At LODH some 12 associates share responsibility for losses. “We are both the owners and the driving force of our bank,” Darier explained, “We don’t have to worry about our share value or quarterly results, we place the emphasis on internal growth — and we’re not for sale.” Each private bank tries to carve out a particular speciality. “We have a niche strategy,” said Christian Rahn, of Rahn and Bodmer.

Private bankers underline they are not there to force-feed customers with their own brand of financial services. “Big difference wi-th other is that we are above all distributors of products, we are not trying at all costs to sell the house’s products to our clients,” said Nicolas Pictet, eponymous bank.

Only one private bank has been formed in Switzerland in recent years on tho-se classical lines. A former executive at a major Swiss commercial bank set up Reichmuth and Company in Lucerne with his son in 19-98. “For many people the notion of personal commitment is not innate, it’s often inherited,” remarked Mich-el Derobert, secretary general of the private bankers’ association, “It’s not at all obvious to get into the business and to bet everything you have.” Image and reputation are also a key part of the business.